Improvement in repeating guns



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Dec. 1862.

G. H. PALMER.

Machine Gun.

Inventoqp WWW 2 Sheets8heet 2.

c. H. PALMER. Machine Gun.

No. 37,052. Patented Deb; 2, 1862.

Witnesses. e m m r;

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UNITED STATES PA'IENT Carton.

CHARLES H. PALMER, OF LAKEVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN REPEATIN G GUNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,052, dated December 2, 1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. PALMER, of Lakeville, in the county of Litchfield, in the State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fire- Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawlugs, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the entire novel parts of the structure, with so much of the supporting parts as may be necessary to understand its use. Fig. 4: is a plan view with certain parts removed. Fig. 5 is a full-size section of one of the well-known cartridges for the use of which my gun is intended. Fig. 6 1s a plan view of the clearing apparatus detached from the other part. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same when in the act of seizing a shell. Fig.8 is a like section when in the act of throwing down a shell.

Similar letters of 7 reference indicate like parts in all the drawings.

My gun is intended to fire balls of any convenient size and of any suitable material from barrels which may be either rifled or plain. It 1s to be mounted in such manner that its elevation and direction may be changed at will e ther previous to the commencement of a series of discharges or during the continuance of a series, and is applicable to ship or boat use, as well as to land service. For the latter use it is to be made movable in any conven- 1ent way, one of the most ready of which is a carriage of suitable size and strength attached to or forming part of the structure.

The great value of my gun lies in its ability to fire very rapidly and for a long period with little labor and with ammunition which is light and cheap and requires no preparation during an action.

Ihave tested some of the chief features of this invention on a large scale sufficiently to establish its practicability with lead bullets of pistol size.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe 1ts construction and operation as adapted to project lead balls of ordinary musket or rifled-musket caliber in ordinary field-service.

A IS an axle; A, a trail; and A, one of the wheels which carry a metal platform, B, and.

a pintle, b. The metal support C is adapted free to revolve therein.

to be turned around onthe center I) by the means of a hand-wheel, D, and pinion d, which acts in a segment, B, on the rear edge of B, and is adapted to support the frame E of the gun by its trunnions e, as represented.

F is an elevatingscrew by which the aim may be raised and lowered.

l and E are standards of the form represented, which support the axis C so that it is Four stout barrels, G, G G and G are firmly and accurately fixed upon this shaft in the manner represented, each being properly rifled and made open at each end. The rear-end of the axis G is enlarged, so as to form a wheel, which embraces the rear ends'of the several barrels and holds them 'in place very rigidly. This axis and wheel G, with the several barrels and certain projections g g thereon, constitute the revolving portion, which may be denoted collectively as the revolving barrels G. The projections g serve to sustain this revolving portion of the machine against the end pressure which is applied to confine the cartridge, and the projections g serve as means through which the rotation is effected and stopped at the proper periods, as will be explained below.

H is a. crank, which is turned by the hand of the operator, and by the rotation of which all the several processes of loading, rotating, firing, and removing the shell of the cartridge are efi'ected. Each barrel is caused to receive a cartridge when in its lowest position to be fired when in its highest position, and to be cleared of the metallic case which forms the sides and rear of the cartridge during its descent again to its lowest position. The cartridges are designated M. Those I prefer to employ are well known to the trade, and are understood to be made and sold by Messrs. Chittenden & Tibbals, at South Coventry, Connecticut. Their form is shown in section in Fig. 5, the bullet, the powder, and the fulminate being all compactly and strongly held together by the copper shell m, which latter remains in the arm when the piece is fired, and serves in the obvious manner to prevent the escape of gas through any joints therein. The rear face of the cartridge, on approaching the position in which it is to be fired, is brought in contact with a slightly inclined or wedging surface on a stout portion, 1, of the frame-work, and is pressed into absolutely tight contact with the rear end of the barrel in the manner to which these cartridges are adapted, and at the same time the projection g, which is very nearly contiguous, is caused to press with equal force against a similarly inclined or wedging face on the continuation t of the said portion of the frame.' The pressure out being in the opposite direction and exactly equal to that on I, the two forces balance each other, and no strain is exerted to injure or wear the bearings on which the revolving barrels G are carried.

I will now describe in succession the several trains of mechanisn'i'whereby I'rotatethe bar rels, supply and introduce the cartridges, explode the percussion material or fulminate which is in the rear end of each cartridge, and remove the material which remains.

The crank H is fixed on a shaft, h, which is carried in bearings, as represented, near the rear end of E. On It is fixed an eccentric, J, which operates a lever, J, which. latter turns on a fixed center, J carried on E. The lower end of this lever J is connected by a rod, J with a large slide, J which is constrained through the intervention of suitable guides, e, co-reciprocate in a right line forward and backward under the revolving barrels G, its motion being derived from the rotation of H and being guided by the presence of the guides e. ()n the upper side ofthis slide J are fixed an inclined face, J and two parallel faces, J and J arranged as represented. At the angle between the inclined face J (which face, by acting upon the projections 9, turns the barrels) and the face J (which face, by acting upon another projection, g, prevents the barrels from turning too far or too soon) is a spring-piece, J, adapted to sink into and coincide with the facets J or to project outward, according as the pressure forcing it inward shall determine, the tension of its spring (not represented) being always ready to throw it outward to the extent represented, where it is stopped by the form of the parts. At each revolution of the crank H the slide moves forward, rubbing its face J against projectiom'g, which rests against it until the spring-piece J sinks and the entire slide passes in front of g.- In this position of the parts J is thrown out by' the action of its spring. The backward motion of the slide now brings the spring-piece J in contact with the other face of the projection g, and as J is firm in this direction it compels the barrels G and their attachments to commence to rotate. In commencing to rotate itthrows the projection 9 upon theinclined face J which compels a continuance of the rotary motion until the barrels have been compelled to perform one-fourth of a complete revolution, when the projection g slips off of the inclined face J thus inducing no further rotation, and at the instant it slides ofl upon the face J so as to prevent any recoil, the next succeeding projection 9 comes'into action by striking the slide, and positively prevents any further rotation by standing in contact with the face J during the remainder of the forward motion and during the entire return motion of the slide.

slight frames of metal, L, of convenient length, and the elasticity of the sides of the cells in this frame causes the several cartridges, M, to

be-retained with sufficient force for my purfir t nt oduce theuthvhand or otherwise into 1 pose. These frames L, filledwith cartridges M, are introduced by hand into the highest end of an inclined spout, N and are caused to traverse through by gravity under the control and with the aid of a feed-wheel, O, which latteris provided with wings or teeth, 0, adaptedto take hold of the several chambers or ridges on L, and to urge forward or restrain-them, as

may be required to regulate the motion properly. The feed-wheel 0 is actuated through a gear-wheel, 0, by a gear-wheel, g, which-latter is fixed on the end of the shaft G.

The spout N is provided with trunnions n,

of large diameter, and is mounted thereby in suitable bearings onthe framing E, which are exactly in line with the lowermost position of the barrels, so that it can rock on these trun nions without changing its relation to the lowermost barrel. Both trunnions are hollow, to. 1

allow the action of a punch or pusher, Q which is introduced from the rear, to force each cartridge forward into the barrel when itis brought into the right position. The trunnions a usually serve simply as supports for N without any necessity for a rocking motion; but if in any case, by reason either'of a malformation or misplacement of the cases L, the teeth 0 of the feed-wheel O fail to meet the cavities between. the ridges on L, and instead thereof'strike.

upon'the ridges themselves, the spout N yields by tilting or rocking and prevents damage.

I may remark that the greatest liability to injury in the-absence of this provision is atthe moment when the feed-wheel 0 ehangesits held from one frame L to its successor. The

rocking of N obviates all liability to difticulty and damage. A stout spring, P, holds the piece firmly inclined to the extent represented,,

except in case of some misplacetnent, as described.

Around the opening in the forward trunnion,

through which the cartridges are forced out of the spout N into the lowest barrel, isa series of sprin s N arran ed as re )resented. These tend to close together and serve as'elastic guides to steady and support each cartridge.

They prevent its falling or becoming much misplaced of its own accord, and yet allow it to yield slightly,it' it be necessary, in case the barrel is notnexactly in line with it. y

Aspring', N is secured in the top of the spout N, so as to press upon the frames L near their exit from the lower end. The duty of this spring is to prevent each case L from sliding out so soon as itis released by the feedwheel 0, and to restrain it by friction until it is pushed out by the advance of the next succeeding case L. In the absence of this spring the last cartridge would not be held in line with the trunnions until the punch or pusher Q could act on it properly; and, what is much worse, theframe L might be caught in such a false position at the moment of the advance of the pusher that the latter would strike the frame, and, crushing it through the springs N into the barrel, would clog the machine.

The pusher Q is operated by the lever Q, which is centered at Q and driven by the eccentric Q on the shaft h. Its motion backward draws it out of the path of the frames L and allows them to be moved. Its motion forward pushes the cartridge before it through the spring N into the open rear of the barrel and leaves it there. 1

The means of exploding the fnlminate needs but a brief description, on account of its similarity to the corresponding parts of well-known arms.

R is the. striking-point, carried on the slidin g-hammer R whichis driven forward by the spring R to discharge the piece by striking the cartridge on the edge of its rear face, so soon as released by the wiper R, which acts in the slot 1" of the slide R The removal of the soft-copper shell of the cartridge after the discharge remains now to be described. It is effected by means of the part T and its connections. There is a slide formed of two parallel parts, T, rigidly connected by a cross-piece,T*,as represented,and carrying on its forward end two hook-formed edges, t t, adapted to insinuate themselves wedgewise between the shell of the cartridge and the rear face of the wheel G. As each shell is successively presented by the rotation of G it is seized between the edges t t, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

T is a wiper fixed on the crank-shaft h, and which at each revolution of the latter acts against the shoulder T and moves the entire slideT,&c.,backward. Thismovementdraws the shell out from the barrel, and a spring, T returns all the parts to their places again so soon as the wiper T releases them. Before this latter operation is effected the shell is removed from the hooks t t by the action of a tilting lever, II. This lever is hung on the pin U in the frame-work E of the. machine, and consequently does not slide back and forth with T, but simply stands and tilts between the parts T of the latter. Itis provided with a curved front, a, which is presented above each shell, and as the latter is drawn back by the motion of the slide T the rear end, U, of the lever U is raised by theoontact of the cross-part T. This tilts the forward end of U downward and causes the curved point a to press upon the top of the shell and force the latter down out of the clearing-hooks t t. On

the forward motion of the slide T the crosspart T acts under and elevates the forward part, U, of the lever U, and restores it to its original position.

My gun may be sighted in any convenient manner, one of the most simple of which is to carry a front sight on a suitable arm or arch of metal, (not represented,) which shall extend upward from the upright E, and to provide a suitable aperture with an adjustable hausse, if desired, at the rear end of the frame E.

The whole of the works of the gun, as also the persons or portions of the persons of the gunners, may be protected by any suitable shield-work, attached either permanently or temporarily.

It is intended that the cartridges shall be placed in the slight frames L at the place where they are manufactured, and as these frames are light and cheaply made they add butlittle to the cost of making or transporting thematerial, and may be allowed to be lost as fast as. emptied. In an emergency, however, it is evident that if proper cartridges were at hand the emptied cases L might be readily'refilled and used again with my gun to any extent desired.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- V 1. Presenting and thrusting the cartridges into the rear of the revolving barrel or series of su 3h barrels in one point in its circuit, confining and discharging them at another point in such circuit, and removing the shells or cases in another part of such circuit, in the manner substantially as set forth.

2. The employment in such machines of the projections g and surface 6, arranged relatively to the breeches of the barrels G and to the surface I, or their respective equivalents, in the manner set forth, and this I claim whether the breeches of the barrels and the projections g, or either of them, be adjustable orpermanently fixed.

3. The employment, in breech-loading arms, of the removable spout N, turning on a hollow axis in line with the barrel to be charged, for the purpose herein set forth.

4. The arrangementof the movable spout N, springs P and N and pusher Q, as herein set forth.

5. The spring-guides N, arranged in an annular series around the path of the pusher Q for the purpose set forth.

6. The clearing books 15 t, arranged and operating, as described, in connection with the revolving barrels G, or their equivalents.

7 The clearing lever U, operated by the reciprocation of the clearing-hooks t t, and combined and arranged therewith, substantially as herein set forth.

CHARLES H. PALMER.

Witnesses:

THOMAS D. STE'rsoN, W. A. HENnRIoKsoN. 

